A STUDY has named County Durham among the areas worst affected by austerity in the country.

According to the findings by Cambridge University, the county saw spending levels slashed by almost a third between 2010-17. The report’s authors have warned that government policy to shift more responsibilities on to councils could make the situation worse.

Durham County Council leader Cllr Simon Henig said: “Since the government’s austerity programme commenced in 2010, Durham County Council has been forced to find savings of £224m. The impact of the cuts is much more acute in areas such as County Durham where previously the level of government grant rightly recognised the costs of providing services in more deprived areas and the demands and pressures associated with providing children and adult social care.

“Austerity has brought with it a move away from properly recognising ‘need’ within the allocation of government grant funding to local authorities at a time when demand for statutory services has massively increased in County Durham.”

In all, 46 English councils, including seven in the North-East, have slashed funding by 30 per cent or more from 2010 to 2017. Durham has faced a 31 per cent cut in that time. Darlington has received a cut of 11 per cent.

“The idea that austerity has hit all areas equally is nonsense,” said Dr Mia Gray, who worked on the study. “Local councils rely to varying degrees on the central government, and we have found a clear relationship between grant dependence and cuts in service spending. Cities have suffered the most, particularly in old industrial centres of the north, but also much of London.”